Owl Café — Restaurant in Apalachicola

Alligator appetizer was good; dinner was not. The fresh catch of the day (red mullet) & ribeye steak were good, but the pairing of seasonings & garnishing is what made the dishes taste terrible.

Service was not good either. It was extremely slow. We were there for over 2 hours. We were seated immediately, outside, but it took 15 minutes to get a drink order, then another 15 minutes for the drinks to arrive (2 waters, 1 alcoholic beverage). By the time our appetizer came, It looked like it was going to rain soon. Eventually, the patio waitress started moving her tables inside.

The restaurant was not busy overall. The tables inside were mostly empty just as they were when we arrived. Once inside, we were seated immediately. Another 45+ minutes went by when we flagged down our waitress to ask what was going on with our two orders. The waitress explained that she neglected to tell us that one of our two entrees had accidentally been given to another table. When this incident occurred, her reasoning for not being forthcoming was she hoped the food would be ready before we mentioned something. I don't blame her for that. Things happen in the service industry. She just didn't want a dilemma. She continued to explain that the kitchen ended up remaking both of our plates, which I find appropriate, as the other dish would've been sitting under a heat lamp for an hour. By the time she was done explaining the situation, someone was running the food to our table.

There is an appropriate time to share information like this with the paying customer... and that time was at least 25 minutes before we had to flag her down. She allowed too much time to pass without checking in on us or offering us the courtesy of an explanation.

It was hardly worth the wait to say the least. We should have just thrown cash on the table and walked out the door. This place is a waste of money and a waste of time for dishes that are poorly seasoned & garnished. The flavor combinations this restaurant is trying to create doesn't mesh together in aroma or taste. New recipes should be considered.

While there are many cute, quaint restaurants from Apalachicola to Carrabelle, you're best sticking with raw oysters (on ice) & burgers in these parts. The only restaurant that sells raw oysters ON ICE is Lynn's Oysters in Eastpoint (10 minutes East of Apalachicola). These towns aren't Charleston Sc or Miami Fl— food-wise, so if you're expecting seaside goodness, you're...

First, let me say we LOVE the food at the Owl Café....and it is one of my FAVORITE restaurants....so much that when we visit we usually eat there more than once. This past vacation to St George we ate at the Owl Café twice. We were visiting for our 10 year anniversary which fell on a Friday so we decided to eat at the Owl Café on Thursday due to it being to busy. Our waitress Thursday night (I so wished I remembered her name) was amazing, prompt, sweet, and the food was perfect. We explained our intention was to eat there Friday, but was afraid it would be to busy....she offered to check for us, and before we left had us a reservation at the most romantic, window seat table for Friday night. Friday night we returned...excited and looking forward to having a perfect romantic meal...unfortunately we had a different waiter and a much different experience. Please if you visit the Owl Café try and NOT to have Adam as your waiter.....it was the worst service we have ever had....especially at an upscale, slightly expensive restaurant. Once seated the sweet hostess took our drink order after we had sat there for 10+ minutes without being greeted or spoken to by Adam. 20 minutes after we sat down he finally brought our beers and we ordered. We were there at least 40 minutes before we received our salads. We were out of drinks for at least 20-25 minutes as Adam repeatedly passed by our table not acknowledging us. 1 hour and 10 minutes after we were seated we got our food- which was not hot. I was missing the cream that came with my meal and asked Adam about it...he stated sarcastically "its in the window waiting for me".... my husband then asked about the beers we had asked for 20 minutes prior...he stated sarcastically "I'm sure they are waiting for me in the window." We were there 2 hours to have a meal. I cannot say enough what bad service we received from Adam. I know it was Friday night, and busy, but there was no acknowledgement on his part or concern. On top of that we were expecting the same AMAZING service we have had in the past and the night before (Thursday night our waitress was a young blonde girl- married for 2 years- husband was in the military).....I only say this so management maybe can tell her...

We used to love this place. Wow; it has really went downhill! We made a reservation for 6. They required a credit card because they would presumably charge us I guess if we didn’t show. We show up right on time and are told they only have seating for us outside…..it is really hot in the mid to upper 80s currently in June. There are plenty of empty tables inside (I can see at least 4-5 empty tables just from the hostess stand) and I ask if they can move two tables together because it is so hot outside and the hostess says they cannot do that. So we are seated outside. It really is uncomfortable…no fans even…and I’m a bit annoyed that we had a reservation..that they would have charged us if we didn’t show..yet they make us sit outside. So I asked for a manager. To her credit, she said she’d handle it and pushed two tables together and let us move inside. Two of us didn’t have silverware until we asked for it. We were there forever waiting for our server to get our order…then waiting for our food. They brought out all of the meals together except for mine. I told everyone to go ahead and it was a good thing I did. It was at least another 20-25 minutes before mine came out. My son let me share his. And then they finally came with mine and we got a “sorry about that” like it wasn’t a big deal to bring one person’s food as everyone else was literally finishing their meal. A server with any decent training would have said, “I’m so sorry; please accept this on the house. I’ll make sure this is not on your bill…” but no….no idea here how to provide descent service. And the food was ok but not what it used to be. This used to be fine dining and now has the worst service in town….maybe in FL. No one is trained well. A $300 meal that was a joke and a waste of time and money. We had brought guests with us and had told them it was amazing (it has been a while since we’ve been there) and we felt embarrassed by it…it was so bad. I don’t know if I’ll ever go back. I have sung this place’s praises on the St. George Island Facebook group before several times when anyone asked where to go and I sincerely apologize. I certainly won’t ever recommend it...